


when you're on the phone and you talk real slow ('cause it's late and your mama don't know)

by hallelujah99



Series: The Goodkind-Shalifoe Family [8]
Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Family, Fluff, Future Fic, Parenthood, Post-Canon, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29251827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hallelujah99/pseuds/hallelujah99
Summary: Shelby knows there's nothing quite like a late night phone call with the girl you love/Part of a series but can be read by itself
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Series: The Goodkind-Shalifoe Family [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088612
Comments: 7
Kudos: 170





	when you're on the phone and you talk real slow ('cause it's late and your mama don't know)

When Shelby turned 13 years old, her parents surprised her with the one gift she wanted and was SURE she’d never get-a cell phone. She screamed and cried and hugged them, before firing it up and diving right in. 

She was so excited to get all her friends’ numbers the next day at school, but there was one person she didn’t have to wait for. She’d had Becca’s number memorized by heart for ages, from all the times she’d called her from the house phone or one of her parents’. 

“Becca! Hi! Oh my goodness I can’t believe I really got one!” Shelby whispered into her phone that night, underneath the covers. 

They talked until nearly 1 am, which felt insanely late on a school night. Every time Becca yawned and proclaimed she was going to bed, Shelby searched for reasons to try and make her stay. 

Despite the tiredness she knew she’d feel, she just never wanted to stop talking to Becca. Her best friend, the prettiest girl in class, the funniest person she’d ever met, the most interesting conversation partner...Shelby never wanted that phone call to end. 

(The next morning, her phone was dead and her parents were pissed, and for years after that, she had to give her phone to her dad at night)

* * *

The first of many late night calls she’d shared with Toni was the only saving grace of one of the worst nights of her life. It shouldn’t have been so bad, not really, she should have been excited to finally be in her own bed but it felt so foreign and she couldn’t understand the way she longed for sand beneath her.

So much more than that, though, she longed for the girl she missed to be beside her. She had no idea where she was or what was on her mind. If she was safe at home too or still locked in that miserable bunker.

She was about to set her phone down and try to sleep for the tenth time when she got a message request on Instagram. It was Martha. Shelby had scoured the internet but been unable to find either Toni or Martha, but thank God, Martha found her. 

It was all of 3 minutes later that she finally heard the voice she’d missed for what felt like forever. Toni had needed to whisper too, as she sat in the bathroom of the airport hotel room she was sharing with Martha and her mom before their final flight back home. 

It wasn’t the same as having her by her side, holding her, by the heat from the fire, the comfort of the other girls around them. But to know she was safe, and that she still felt the same way, was enough for Shelby, for the night.

If Shelby’s parents ever heard her on the phone those nights, they never said anything. They didn’t say much at all to her, other than to try and convince her to wear a wig. 

Those late nights on the phone with Toni were spent mostly reminiscing (or was it processing?) and planning for their future, a million different ideas and plans- wishes Shelby prayed would come true. As tired as she always was after those phone calls, they kept her anchored and stable in a time when nothing else felt that way, and gave her something to look forever to when life was otherwise dull and difficult. With Toni it was always bright and easy.

* * *

They went many years without a late night phone call- there was no need, as they slept side by side-in their tiny and cramped first two apartments, in their much nicer apartment after the settlement payment, in their first house and finally, the home they designed together. 

For a while, their late night conversations ranged from further processing of their shared trauma and wonderful memories, more plans that felt increasingly certain, and the occasional argument that they always worked to resolve together. Eventually the conversations became about whichever baby was crying, what she may need and who should provide it. 

Isla was 8 and June was 3 when Shelby had to call Toni late at night for the first time in years. She’d already FaceTimed her as she tucked the girls into bed but she couldn’t sleep without talking to her either. 

“How’s Martha doing?” Shelby asked as she settled under the covers, and stared at Toni, snuggled into a hotel bed, a few states away.

“You know her, trying to stay positive. But I can tell it’s affecting her more than she wants to admit.” Toni told Shelby. Martha’s sister had just delivered a stillborn baby and Martha and Toni had rushed to her side in Minnesota, leaving their own children behind.

“And how are you, baby?” Shelby asked, and it only took that much for Toni to fall apart. Shelby was used to watching Toni fall apart, but felt so helpless that unlike every other time, she couldn’t pull her wife into her arms.

“I’m so sad for Carolynn, of course. She really wanted that baby....And I feel like shit because all I can think about is how much I miss our kids, and I’m going to see them again in a few days.” 

Shelby nodded, she could tell in Toni’s sad smile as she had talked to the girls how difficult it was for her to be away from them.

“Do you think they know I’m coming back? Like they really understand it? That I haven’t abandoned them?” 

Shelby reassured Toni and validated her feelings into the early morning hours. 

She was exhausted the next day, and it was harder than it had been when she was 18, and didn’t have two kids to care for the morning, but she didn’t regret a second of that phone call, or the other ones she had, every night of Toni’s 4-night stay. 

* * *

“Rematch! Rematch!” Toni screamed, as 12-year old June laughed at her mother losing her mind over a video game. 

“Rematch tomorrow, it’s time for June to get going upstairs.” Shelby called from the dining room table, where she kept an eye on 17-year old Isla, who had chosen to wait until the night before the due date to start writing an important essay. 

Between starring in the school musical and her seemingly boundless group of friends, Isla was always distracted with something, always wanting to talk and dance and sing more than sit down and study. 

June, on the other hand, completed her homework as soon as she got home from school, was quieter, and had a few close friends at school, and a couple more on her club soccer team. She’d more or less been the compliant child her whole life, in stark contrast to Isla, who ran a little wild. 

They balanced each other out perfectly, though, and their moms loved them for their individual personalities, that showed through with traits of each mother, and some unique to each girl. 

It’s unremarkable, then, that as soon as Shelby told June she needed to get upstairs, she gave each of her family members a hug before heading up to take a shower. 

It was a couple hours later, Isla finally had finished her essay and Shelby finished up a few things for work before heading to bed. On her way, though, she heard something. A giggle.

At first she assumed it was Isla-she was always the one up late, talking to god knows who. At 17, they weren’t really going to stop her, she was old enough to decide to stay up late on a school night.

Except...that wasn’t Isla’s laugh. And it wasn’t coming from Isla’s room. It had to be June, but she’d gone to bed hours ago. And June was such a rule-follower, so much so that Toni sometimes lamented secretly about it. Shelby wondered if maybe she was laughing in her sleep.

But then, she heard it again. A giggle, followed by “Oh my god no, you stop. Okay, it’s your turn to ask me a question.”

Shelby’s jaw dropped and she fast-walked as quietly as she could to her room, where Toni was in bed, reading glasses on her nose as she scrolled through her phone. 

“Babe! Babe!” She hissed under her breath. Toni put her phone down and looked up. “What?” She looked terrified for a second, Shelby knew she must look so shocked Toni couldn’t read it. 

“June is…” Shelby broke out laughing, for reasons she wasn’t sure about. It wasn’t funny, really, but Shelby was just shocked. And okay, it was a little funny.

“What? What happened?” Toni asked. 

Shelby continued laughing and pointing vaguely in the direction of June’s room. “I was walking by and…”

“...and?”

“She is awake and she is…” Shelby shook her head incredulously. “Talking to a…to somebody in there! Playing that ‘now you ask me a question’ game! Giggling her little butt off like you’ve never heard.”

It was Toni’s turn now, for her jaw to drop before she burst out laughing. “Oh my god, June!” She shook her head, somewhat impressed that her daughter was finally rebelling, at least a little bit. “Giggling? Like…” Toni imitated the giggle Shelby had heard before. 

“Yes! Exactly like that!” Shelby said, before they both burst out laughing. 

“Who do you think it is?” Toni asked, sarcastically, because they both already knew. That giggle was reserved for one person only. The person June could just never seem to shut up about. 

“Could be anyone!” Shelby said with a smile and a shrug, but the look on her wife’s face broke her and she began laughing again. 

Toni snickered, “Could be anyone, but it’s definitely-”

“-Erica” they said in unison, before breaking into more laughter. For a second it struck Shelby how much it felt like they were middle schoolers again, instead of the parents of one. 

“Should we be responsible and go tell her she needs to go to sleep?” Shelby asked, but she knew Toni’s answer. 

“Let’s let her have this. I feel bad she never learned how to get away with things.” Toni said, as Shelby climbed into bed beside her and wrapped her up in her arms. 

Shelby hummed in agreement. “I did it, you did it, Lord knows Isla does it and is just sneakier about it.” 

“Remember that time your sister heard you talking to me and threatened to tell your parents?”

Shelby buried her face into Toni’s shoulder. “Don’t remind me.”

“Glad she didn’t, though. There’s nothing like a late night phone call with the girl you love.” Toni said, bringing her wife’s face to hers for a kiss. 

Shelby couldn’t agree more. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed!
> 
> I've been visiting my mom which mean tons of country music to inspire me lol hopefully I can write more soon, still a busy bee over here!
> 
> ANYWAY I always appreciate every comment and kudos I get, so much!! Thank you!!!!


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